The Do's and Don'ts of Working With Obviously

At Obviously, we’ve overseen a lot of collaborations, and we’ve seen every type of brand-influencer interaction: the good, the bad, and the downright cringeworthy. Many of our influencers have mastered the duel arts of creating beautiful content and being fantastic collaborators. But sometimes influencers run into stumbling blocks which can make us want to say “D’oh!” Here’s how to avoid common faux pas and create great relationships with Obviously and our brands.

When creating a sponsored post:

Do: Disclose the collaboration.

First off, it’s the law. Even if it’s a gifted campaign, you have to disclose with #ad or #sponsored. This actually makes your content feel more authentic, because your followers know they can trust you to be open with them. People want to know if you’re working with a brand, and they appreciate getting the full picture.

Don’t: Mention other brands.

This is normally spelled out in the project brief, but you’d be surprised how often people forget about this. Keep dedicated posts dedicated. If you want to feature the brand alongside a collection of other products, you can do so in a later post.

When accepting a collaboration:

Do: Double-check the brief.

We always spell out the requirements and the reward on the project page, so you should look through them carefully before accepting a project. Make sure the product is a good fit for your feed and that the reward is appealing to you.

Don’t: Renegotiate after accepting.

Sometimes influencers will reach out after already accepting a project to ask for a bigger reward or to change the terms of the collaboration. This sends the message that you either weren’t paying attention or weren’t entirely transparent when you accepted the project, and it’s not a good look.

When planning your content:

Do: Use your authentic voice.

We tend to keep our creative briefs pretty open so you have lots of room for creativity. We want you to speak honestly about our products and keep it real. After all, that’s why we reached out to you in the first place.

Don’t: Trash the brand.

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes a product just doesn’t work out for you. The right thing to do in this case is to send it back to us and move on. Trashing a product online, even if it’s how you really feel, could seriously hurt your chances of working with another brand. They can see what happened with your last collaboration and will want to avoid a repeat.

If you get confused:

Do: Feel free to ask questions.

This is what we live for. Okay, that’s a little extreme, but it’s literally our job to answer all your questions and make sure the process runs as smoothy as possible for you. Do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Don’t: Go directly to the brand.

Brands work with Obviously because we make their lives easier. There are a lot of moving parts to a collaboration like this, and Obviously makes it easy for them to stay on top of everything. A DM on their Instagram account or a random email to their sales team is not the way to go if you need help with a project. Reach out to your AM or to any Obviously team member and we’ll be on it right away.

If you can’t post on time:

Do: Communicate communicate communicate.

We get it. Stuff happens. Life gets crazy. Most of the time, we’re able to extend a deadline or work around an obstacle if you just reach out and let us know what’s going on. Even if you end up having to cancel the project, it’s not going to negatively affect you as long as you keep us in the loop. The more you communicate with us, the better.

Don’t: Ghost us!

We say it in our intro video and I’ve said it before on this blog, but the number no no for collaborations is don’t ghost us. It’s disrespectful and very uncool. We won’t be working with you again.

Most of our do’s and don’ts seem like common sense, but it’s important to keep all these things in mind when starting a collaboration. Following these simple rules of thumb goes a long way toward making our collaborations an awesome experience for everyone.